


Hello Neighbor

by mikuridaigo



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Cats, Falling In Love, Fluff and Humor, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, Multi, Prank Wars, Voltron General Big Bang 2017, frenemies to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 16:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11787105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikuridaigo/pseuds/mikuridaigo
Summary: Lance isn’t too fond of his new neighbor, the way he leaves his belongings in the hallway, or how he bangs against the wall even though Lance is being quiet while playing video games. Also his neighbor has a stupid mullet, so out of style. His calico cat is cute though, she likes to play with Blue while he was out.That is, until she got Blue pregnant. Also his neighbor’s cat isn’t a girl.For The Voltron Bang 2017





	Hello Neighbor

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is done for the Voltron Big Bang! 
> 
> More artwork will be added once my artist is finished! I'm simply uploading now to be prepared later when posting to the bang tumblr page  
> 0  
> And follow the two who helped me through this project :)  
> Artist: [ Mikossu ](http://mikossu.tumblr.com/)  
> Beta'd by: [ sinelanguage ](http://sinelanguage.tumblr.com/)

 

 

Lance groans as he stares at the blockade by the staircase. He holds a huge stack of papers in one hand, and an ice pack over his eye. Some of the boxes, labeled kitchenware, have clothes and towels sticking out. One box looks like it was used several times by the way the paper was peeling and old tape stuck to the sides.

The real issue with this, besides his throbbing headache, is that those boxes were there when he left that morning. There are less now, but still enough to block the stairs. The elevator into the building hasn’t worked for a long time, apparently broke before Lance began apartment hunting. So he has to take four flights of stairs, usually carrying several books and files, just so he can flop on the couch to rest his feet.

Pouting, Lance pushes some of the boxes with his foot so he can get to the staircase. When he reaches the threshold of the fourth floor Lance stumbles over a pile of laundry. He catches himself on the wall, but his papers and ice pack fall and scatter. Lance whines, picking up his papers and laundry he stepped on. The clutter leads past his apartment, an open room next door to his. That apartment has been empty for the past six months, and already he misses the silence.

Ice pack back on his face, Lance stomps his way over to the room. “Hey! This is a fire hazard you know!”

Lance pops his head into the room, not wanting to intrude but still making his presence known. The kitchen is the first room in his view, which is covered in newspaper that was most likely wrapped around their dining plates. The windows are bare due to the lack of curtains and an old, ratty couch sits between them. The couch was downstairs earlier that morning.

He notices a bag of cat litter when the resident finally emerges from the bedroom. He’s wearing a bulletproof vest and a belt with a holster. Behind his messy bangs are a pair of glaring eyes with dark bags underneath. “What are you doing in my house?”

“What is your house doing in the hallway? I tripped over,” Lance throws what he then realizes are pairs of underwear, “Ew! I tripped over your laundry dude.”

The man sighs and rubs his temples. His unkempt hairstyle looks like a mullet, and Lance swears the 80s is calling back to him. “I’m clearing this as fast as I can.”

“Not fast enough. That was there this morning.” Lance says.

In truth the man’s clutter isn’t a big deal. Lance has seen several neighbors move in and out of the complex in the past two years. It’s a cheap, and sort of run down place, more for temporary living until they got back on their feet. Besides himself, the longest living residence there were older folk living on the first floor. The boxes, therefore, aren’t actually in anyone’s way.

Except Lance had a terrible day. As a middle school teacher, he expects every day to be terrible. He is one of the lucky few, who are able to relate to his students or at least humor them enough so that he saves himself from in-class pranks and disruption. But today, of all days, not only was Lance late because of the traffic in his staircase, he witnessed and broke up a fight just as school ended, resulting in his black eye when the student accidentally jammed their elbow into him.

He had to stay behind another two hours to file a report and talk as a witness. The buses were jam-packed, and he was pressed up against the smelly guy who got off two stops before his own. So to come back to this mess, and a fairly rude guy, just ticked him off more so.

“Look, it’ll be gone by tomorrow.” The guy says, moving past him to pick up another box in the hall.

“It better be,” Lance squints with his good eye, reading his badge, “Officer _Ko-gain_ , otherwise I’m throwing your underwear in the dumpster.”

Kogane glares at him, and brushes shoulders when he returns to his apartment. “Have a good evening, _sir_.”

Lance dramatically salutes him before inserting his key to his door. He takes one more glance over his shoulder, noticing the officer does the same. They huff, turn away dramatically, and part ways.

In his apartment, he drops his bags on the kitchen table and heads to the freezer for another ice pack when a blur of gray jumps onto the counter. Lance smiles, picking up Blue in his arms and strokes her head. She purrs into his touch, nuzzling her head in his chest. “Well, at least someone in this place is still nice.”

Before settling himself, Lance opens a can of cat food and refills her water bowl. Now that she’s busy he goes to the bathroom and takes a good look at himself. The swelling in his eye has gone down significantly but there’s definitely going to be color by the time he wakes up. Some face mask before bed will help that a little, and the make-up he gladly owns will cover it too. Damn eighth graders though, with their hard elbows.

After a long, hot shower, Lance snuggles himself in his plush bathrobe and cat slippers. He goes back to the kitchen to prepare a cup of tea and leftovers Hunk gave him a few nights prior. Once he has everything he joins Blue on the couch. She’s sitting on a pillow, while Lance props his feet on the table and takes out a stack of papers.

A loud bang comes from his wall, and his picture of his family falls to the ground. Lance whips his head around, hearing another loud bang, and then screeching on the floor boards.

Lance stomps his way over and picks up the picture. It is in a plastic casing, so nothing broke, but he is still offended that his neighbor knocked down his photo. He tries to hang it in it’s spot, but another loud bang with the wall sends it down. Lance catches it this time, bangs his head on the wall, and then walks back to his couch, propping his photo on his coffee table.

Blue jumps onto the table and curls next to the picture. She rubs her face on Lance’s mom. Lance holds his chest and let’s out a small ‘awe’ at the sight.

His family is back in Florida, still living in the house his father bought when he first moved to the US. Lance grew up his entire life in Florida before joining the airforce right after high school. Four years of military service, then using his GI bill to pay for college resulted in his teaching degree. His last station was in California, where he did his schooling before the job offer at the local middle school.

Lance loves kids, no matter the age, and he fit perfectly in the community and the school. His friends he met in college are also close by, so he isn’t _lonely_.

He tries to talk to them at least once a week, which at his age may seem a little too much, but with a close family like his once a week isn’t enough.

Most of his family’s stories are the same. Their family shop is usually busy since they’re set up in a tourist zone. His Mama and sister have taken the reigns on the shop since his Papa’s been a little sick, old age and heavy work getting to his body. But Papa is still as jolly as ever, cracking as many jokes as he can to make Lance laugh.

It makes him miss living in the big house with his sister and cousins. The city is loud, but not the same kind of loud he childhood home had. There are days he misses his sister barging into his room, or his little cousins pulling his apron when he helps cook dinner.

His apartment is just too quiet sometimes. Blue makes the occasional meow, or knocks over a cup, but that’s the most he gets. Every so often Pidge sleeps over when he does game nights, or he stays over with Hunk to help take care of his newborn. At the end of the day, or the week, though, he’s alone.

There’s another loud screech following with a bang by his neighbor. Lance’s eye twitches as he sticks his finger to the wall. That is not the noise he is looking for.

* * *

The next morning Lance’s black eye’s stopped swelling. There is a ring of a purple color around, which can be easily covered with make-up. As Lance paints and powders his face, he hears Blue scratching against the balcony door. “Just a second Blue!”

Her scratching is accompanied by a loud whine, so Lance goes over and opens the door, letting her out to her litter box.

Next to her box is his watering can, and Lance decides he might as well water his plants while he’s out there. He has a rectangular box filled with succulents that sit on his banister. Two potted plants with petunias hang from each side of the balcony door. He takes pride in caring for his plants, always healthy and trimmed throughout the year.

He takes a glance over at his neighbor’s balcony and sees a few succulents on the banister too, along with empty cardboard boxes on the floor. Lance frowns, seeing how brown and dried his plants look. Succulents didn’t require that much water to begin with, so to see them dying is just a disgrace!

Lance peeks over, making sure his neighbor isn’t by the door. He reaches over and waters the plants closest to him. When he turns around to put the watering can back, a Calico cat sits next to the litter box, staring at Blue who’s already inside.

“Hey… kitty?”

The Calico cat just walks past him and towards Blue. She doesn’t seem to mind and shows her to the couch where she sleeps

“Alright. That happened.”

Lance finishes getting dress and covering his black eye. It only takes another ten minutes to brew his coffee and prepare his bagel before he’s out the door.

As he opens his door he’s met with his neighbor, only dressed in his boxers and a raggy tank top. His door is propped open while he collects collapsed boxes in the hallway.

Lance stares at him, up and down, unsure if this is the same guy from yesterday.

“What?” His neighbor asks with a scowl.

Yup, that’s still the same guy. He somehow looks smaller out of uniform, but his hair is in a poof of a mess, sticking out in all directions. Lance bites his lip to hold a laugh.

“Morning neighbor.” He says.

Kogane blinks. “Morning…”

“Don’t shoot anyone today.” Lance teases as he walks to the staircase.

“Yeah? Well don’t! Don’t--- ugh it’s too early for this.” He hears the officer slam his door shut, and Lance takes it as a win.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Lance returns home and opens the balcony door to let Blue use her litter box, and to water his plants. On his left side, a potted plant is knocked over with broken ceramics and a half wilted cactus spilling on his property.

Blue scratches at the dirt while her new friend just watches from the inside. Both stare at him with their giant eyes, curious to what he’ll do next.

“Stupid officer.” Lance says, taking the dirt and tossing it back over to the correct side.

Sometime later he hears the officer return home, and an hour after that the dirt is back on Lance’s balcony, with a note. _Not my dirt, asshole._

Lance waits until he’s sure the officer fell asleep when he goes outside again and returns the dirt, along with Blue’s dirty litter box. The Calico cat decides to take her leave for the night and leaves when Lance opens the door.

* * *

The next day the dirt is gone from both their balconies, and Lance considers it a win until he checks his mailbox. A bag of Blue’s poop sits on top of his mail.

And war begins.

* * *

Every morning Lance sings obnoxiously loud when getting ready for work, and at night he blasts his music while in the shower at night.

Kogane continuously bangs on the wall at random points of the night, ensuring that Lance and Blue are disturbed.

He puts a sign up on his neighbor’s balcony that reads ‘plant killer’ with an arrow pointing on his wilted and dried succulents. Lance has no idea how someone manages to kill a cactus.

Kogane _takes_ Lance’s plants and replaces them with his, giving the sign back.

Lance bakes a batch of cookies and leaves them on his floor’s door all except for officer asshole.

Officier asshole puts a sign up warning the residents the cookies are probably poisoned.

If the two do run into each other, there is a glare in their eyes. Lance sticks his nose up, Kogane clicks his tongue, always turning away with anger.

Blue meows happily whenever Lance leaves extra food for her new companion. Lance thinks the Calico is getting fatter now that she visits them. Lance doesn’t mind taking an extra cat.

* * *

It’s the first time Blue’s seen another cat since they moved in. There are a few dogs on the lower floors that like to bark at her when she’s on the balcony, but she has no interest to play with them.

This cat is larger than her, and very fluffy. The cat immediately takes an interest in her too as they sit behind the glass sliding door. Lance is nice enough to let her in, and the fluffy cat rubs up against her.

Lance leaves extra food for her, and Blue is happy to share.

Every night fluffy cat leaves, saying she has an owner to go back to. Blue asks what her name is, but she doesn’t have a name. She doesn’t like ‘fluffy’ though.

Her new companion is a snuggler. She like to sit next to Blue when Lance lets her in. She also says Blue can sit on her if she finds it comfy, and she does. Her companion purrs loudly, louder than Lance when he sleeps.

Her companion also likes to eat Blue’s food. She says her owner doesn’t have as good of food and Blue feels bad. She tries to give more of her food, but she insist she eats too. Blue likes her a lot. Maybe Lance  will ask her to say forever.

* * *

A few weeks in, Lance returns home to find three very large packages in front of his apartment door, all addressed to K. Kogane. Taking a look on the label, Kogane wrote Lance’s door rather than his own so Lance will be blocked.

He begrudgingly moves the boxes back to their rightful owner. Lance goes back to his apartment and rummages through his cabinets, taking out a pack of red cups from the party he threw a year ago, and his pitcher of water. Taking a chair as well, he places the cups on top of the boxes and fills them all with water.

Two hours later he hears an unmanly yelp outside his door. Lance sips his tea as he reads his student’s papers.

“Sanchez! Open the goddamn door!”

Blue and the Calico jump at the pounding on his door. Lance takes another sip of tea, taking his sweet time to answer the door. “Yes?” he sings out.

Kogane is practically fuming, and Lance is sure he sees steam coming out from his head. The red cup is still sitting on his head, while his upper half is completely drenched. ‘“I can have you arrested, you know.”

“For what, being an asshole? Same goes to you then officer.”

Kogane shakes his head like a dog, spritzing the water droplets on Lance. Lance just shrugs, he likes water so this isn’t a problem.

“You know what, we’re in our thirties right? We’re more mature than a bunch of college frat boys.”

“I was a frat boy.” Lance says with a smirk.

Kogane pinches the bridge of his nose. “... so how about a truce? From this moment forward, no more dumb pranks. I’ll stay in my apartment, you stay in yours.”

Lance crosses his arms to think for a moment. As much fun as it is to find a new prank idea, this is probably for the best. There’s only so much they could do before one of them may actually start a fire just to piss the other off.

“Fine. Need help taking those boxes in?”

“... actually, yes. Thank you.”

There’s a puddle of water in front of his door, also drenching the bottom of his boxes. Lance lightly pushes the top box while Kogane catches it from the other side. “What the hell did you order anyway?”

“These are just some things from home,” Kogane says. “Uh, stuff that was originally not coming with me.”

“Dude it’s super heavy. It better be something cool.”

“Is a scale model of Voltron cool?”

Lance tries not to drop the box harshly. “For real?”

Kogane takes out a small knife from his pocket and tosses it over. Lance gently cuts at the tape and removes the packaging, only to find a scale model of Voltron, Defender of the Universe. It's not as shiney as the model Lance alway sees at the comic book store, but it’s the model nonetheless. “Holy shit dude. Where did you get this?!”

“My old co-worker was a collector,” he says. “He sent it to me as a going away gift.”

“Dude! You’ve been holding back. If I knew you were a Voltron fan I wouldn’t have shoved that dirt on your balcony.”

Kogane rolls his eyes. “If you weren’t such a priss I would have told you.”

“Har-har. What else do you have?”

Kogane takes his knife back to open the other boxes. “Just my speakers and ps4.”

“Surround system, nice.”

“Yeah… I was gonna blast out porn if you were gonna sing in the shower again.”

Lance snorts. “Okay, but is that actually at my loss?”

Kogane blushed slightly, which Lance can’t help but find kind of cute with his scowly demeanor. “Yeah I didn’t think it through. Anyway, thanks for helping me.”

“No problem man. Just if you’re gonna blast music, make sure it’s Shakira. I need something to dance too.”

As Lance leaves, the Calico dashes into Kogane’s apartment and places herself on the couch. She meows loudly and Blue comes in, joining the Calico. Kogane rolls his eyes. “Where have you been?”

“Wait, that’s _your_ cat?”

“Yeah? Kinda?”

“Dude, your cat has been in my apartment every morning for a month. She likes to snuggle with Blue.”

Blue and the Calico meow together.

“Annnd I’ve been feeding her too! You starve your cat or something?”

The blush on Kogane returns. “N-no! She just doesn’t like the cat food I get her.”

“So does your freeloader cat have a name? I’ve been calling her Calico.”

“... Red.” Kogane answers. Kind of fitting as she is mostly a red-orange color with a bit of black and white stripes.

“Alright, well you owe me twenty for all the meals this month.”

“Just tell me what cat food you buy so she can eat here.”

“Alright, alright officer. Come on Blue, it’s almost bedtime.” She whines when Lance picks her up, and Red reaches up to give her a kitty kiss before they leave. “I’ll leave the brand tomorrow morning. Have a goodnight officer.”

“Night Sanchez.”

Blue snuggles next to him once Lance is ready for bed. He brings his papers to get a bit more done. He hears faint music coming from Kogane’s side, but it’s pleasant so he doesn’t say anything the next morning.

* * *

“I never thought I’d ask this, but can we go out tomorrow?” Pidge asks, her voice sounding tired.

Lance laughs as he kicks back in his chair and props his feet onto the desk. “Well, well, well, after four years the tables have turned.”

He can hear her roll her eyes. “With Hunk busy being a dad I’m getting kinda bored too.”

“Aw, the computers aren’t entertaining you enough?”

“The code has started talking back to me. I need a drink, or five.”

“I gotcha covered my friend,” he says, looking outside his classroom window. He sees some students sitting in the grass, eating their lunch. Right under his window, however, is a small puff of smoke. He stands up and opens the window and looks down. Two students immediately jolt and try to hide the evidence. Lance holds his hand out, and they guiltily give him their joints before scurrying along. “Kids these days and their bad habits. Couldn’t wait another week before school is actually out.”

“Uh, if I remember you got shitfaced our freshman year of college,” Pidge says over the sound of her typing.

“At least I was an _adult,_ even if not a legal drinking adult. I think those two were twelve! Plus, weed smells disgusting.” He throws the joins into the trashcan and sprays it heavily with frebreez. He’ll have to throw the trash out before the lunch period ends.

“Anyway let’s hit the Paladin and maybe some street dogs. Oh I finally got Black Ops 3, we’ll do that after.”

“Shitty video games with questionable street food? Totally down.”

“Cool, I’ll see you there at seven—and suit up!” Lance proclaims.

“Lance, as much as I love that show, we are never going to have a suit night, not after last time.”

A chili dog eating competition with free beers. Great evening, terrible night and morning after.

“Hey I paid for your dry cleaning! Anyway lunch period ending soon, see ya tonight.”

“See ya.”

He hangs up and leans back in his chair, smiling that he finally has something to do. He leans back too far and falls over. Luckily no one is around to see it.

* * *

A pizza delivery guy stands in front of Kogane’s door, looking a little confused. One hand is a pizza box, the other his cellphone with presumably the address and phone number.

When Lance walks closer the pizza guy immediately turns to him. “Hey! Do you know if this guy is in?”

“I can’t say for sure,” Lance says. “Uh, he’s new here. Hold on.”

Lance steps in front of the officer’s door, and pounds obnoxiously with both hands. “Hey Ko-gane! Are you awake?!”

He doesn’t see it, but he knows the pizza guy cringes at his volume.

“I mean, I do not know his work schedule. Police officer ya know? How long have you been waiting?”

“Almost ten minutes. Some lady let me in but… I don’t know man am I allowed to just leave?”

The pizza guy looks young, possibly just barely 18 and possibly his first job. Lance pats his shoulder. “Here, I’ll pay for it,” he says, taking out his wallet and handing him thirty dollars. “Don’t sweat it, I’ll make sure he knows.”

“Thanks man,” the guys says. He counts the money and sees Lance left him a good tip. “Thank you!”

“No probs.” Lance opens the door to his apartment, waving once more to the pizza guy.

Placing the pizza box on his countertop, he looks for a piece of paper to leave for Kogane. He scribbles ‘You left the pizza guy stranded. My door is open if you want it.’’ Lance leaves again to slide the note under the door.

Although the apartment building’s slightly sketchy, he hasn’t had any experiences with break-ins or stolen items, so he figured it should be safe when he’s out that night.

Lance walks over to the couch to pet Blue and Red, who are snuggling together as usual. He lets them out momentarily for them to use the litter box. Red looks over at her balcony, to see if her owner’s back, but with the lights off she returns to the apartment with Blue.

Lance fills up Blue’s food bowl with enough food to last the two the night. He goes to his room to freshen up with a new shirt and a bit of cologne.

“Alright, watch each other okay?” He says as he walks to his door.

Red meows as if saying yes before licking Blue’s face. They fall back asleep on the couch, and Lance takes a moment to awe at them.

* * *

The Paladin is a bar in town square, and in Lance’s opinion, the only place worth their drinks for their prices. Shiro, the bar owner and TA back in college, themed it as an 80’s space sci-fi show. The door and sign are highlighted with bright neon lights, while the inside is decorated with retired space craft interiors and old Nasa-like computers that he scavenged after the community college got new tech.

Lance and Pidge’s favorite spot is a booth that’s shaped like the cockpit of a the Blue Lion from Voltron. If they were in a bigger group they would usually choose that spot. Tonight, though, is just the two of them, so they settle for the bar.

The bar has strips of lights that slow change between the colors red, blue, purple, green, and yellow. The beer taps are shaped like lion’s head, all with the corresponding colors of the lights. Each beer from the lion's head are all brewed behind the bar from a secret recipe only Shiro and his wife, Allura, knows.

They take a seat at the end of the bar, away from the Friday crowd that pours in. There are other bartenders and waiters serving the customers, but as soon as Lance and Pidge enter, Shiro comes out from the back to serve them.

“And what can I get for my two favorite customers?” He asks with a smile before leaning over the bar to hug them both. “Something strong tonight?”

“Nah, just something to take off the edge,” Lance says.

“Nope, something super strong for me, I need to forget about this week.”

Shiro pours a beer from the blue lion for Lance, which is on the lighter side, and a red beer for Pidge. He already starts mixing a cocktail to Pidge’s request.

“It’s been that kind of week?” Shiro asks.

Pidge rubs her temples. “Every single person in that office is incompetent. I don’t drive out almost an hour to the big city only to work with people who don’t know how to press a button in the elevator. And when Varkon spilled his coffee over 3 hard drives--”

Shiro laughed, passing her a green drink in a margarita glass. It was rimmed with sugar salt and bubbled. “Drink this and everything will go away. Lance, what about you?”

“I’ll stick with the beer for now,” he says. “Month’s been meh. Got punched by a kid, and my new neighbor is a dick.”

“Yeah?” Shiro asks.

“Left all his crap in the hallway, and he rearranges his furniture right before I sleep so he’s slamming his couch into my wall!”

“You sure he doesn’t have a partner to help ‘move furniture’?” Pidge snickers. It’s an inside joke between them. During their college days, their upstairs neighbor kept rearranging the furniture, only to find out later they were having a shit ton of sex, good enough to move the bed around.

“I’d say yes, but with his sour attitude I think the only person who gets him off is himself.” Lance scoffs as he takes another long drink. His words are a little harsh, but not uncalled for. Kogane seems like an okay dude, but with his constant scowl on his face no one expects him to be nice.

Down the bar a few people ask to be served. Shiro tells them he’ll be right back and helps his co-worker.

Pidge is already halfway through with the cocktail. She opens up her blouse and lets her hair loose. Although her hair is short and in a ponytail, once it’s out it puffs up on all sides.

“Seriously though, that’s all that’s happening with you?” Pidge asks.

“What do you mean?”

“No new dates? Some sexy hook-up? Any antics at all?”

Lance rolls his eyes and playfully punches his arm. “What am, I 20? Pidge I’ve been a little busy for just sex.”

“Last week you spent your entire Saturday chasing Blue around the apartment while you were in a onesie.”

“Blue needed her exercise!” Lance says. “I shouldn’t have snapchatted that to you guys,” he mumbles.

“Oh it was entertaining though,” Shiro says as he returns. “But really, nothing for you?”

If this was ten years ago, Lance would have a crazy story whenever they were hanging out. At the time he was still in the airforce, but on and off base he was always up to something, whether that was trying to score with the hot girl or guy at the bar, or climbing a ten foot tree and get stuck there for the night. He prided himself as the entertainer of the group, loving to make his friends laugh.

But now the most he looks forward too is an empty bus so that he can come home faster, or a new episodes of Better Call Saul, when the season came back anyway.

Lance shrugs. “What can I say? It’s the end of the year for the kids so I’m prepping grades and report cards.”

Lance finishes his glass, so Shiro pours him another. “Hey, when summer comes around that means we’ll definitely go out again. I can get us a reservation by the beach.”

“Oooh that sounds fun!” Pidge says, slamming her hand on the bar. “And then I can drown Varkon’s computer too.”

“And she’s already cut off,” Lance says, pushing her empty drink away. “Can we get some fries too?”

“Coming right up. Make sure she doesn’t table dance like last time.”

“I’ll stop her after I record it.” Lance winks.

Pidge sways towards Lance and sticks her tongue out. He loves drunk Pidge, because somehow her non-existent filter is even less filtered, and she’s more willing to sing. “You know what-what we should do? We should buy a farm.”

“You hate nature.”

“And fill it with cats!”

Lance tilts his head. “You have my attention.”

Three beers and two basket of fries later Lance finally feels the buzz. He’s giggle more to Pidge’s elaborate plan of breaking into area 51 to find the giant alien cat she used to see back in college, and she somehow enlisted Shiro into their plan.

At that point it’s already ten and the bar is completely filled.

“Get her back safely,” Shiro says as he hands back his credit card.

“Lance and I are gonna play video games!” Pidge declares. “And then we’re breaking into the marine base!”

Lance snorts. “I will ‘Hiro. O-oh and we need to do dinner again! Please?”

Shiro laughs. “I’ll tell Allura. And we’re gonna drag you out of your rut Lance, seeing you so reclusive is weird.”

“You two are good to me,” Lance laughs. “Gnight Shiro!”

Lance swings one of Pidge’s arms over his shoulders as they walk back to his apartment. He lives closer to the bar than Pidge, so most likely she’ll be sleeping over unless he calls her brother to pick her up.

They terribly sing the Evangelion theme song on their way back, while Lance tries to prevent her from swaying into other pedestrians.

Pidge is short and light enough, though, so carrying her up the stairs is no problem. They’re still giggling when he opens his unlocked apartment.

“Whoa! Lance there’s a stranger in your apartment! Call the cops!”

Standing in his kitchen is Officer Kogane, holding Lance’s note and his pizza box. His uniform is unbuttoned, showing the dirty white tank top underneath. His hair is still in a ponytail, but his bangs are sticking out almost like Pidge’s.

“P-Pidge he is a cop. Heeey officer Ko-ga-naaay! Whacha doing?”

Kogane shows the paper. “You-uh, paid for my pizza?”

“Lance!” Pidge grabs Lance by his collar. “We need pizza.”

“You can just take this one. I actually ate with my partner before coming home…”

“Thank you officer!” Lance sings as he dances to the oven to preheat it. “A-also stop moving your furniture. Ya banged my wall.”

The officer rubs the back of his head. “That was a month ago... Uh, anyway you two keep it down as well. Disturbing the other residences.”

“You keep it down wall banger!” Pidge laughs and gives Lance a high five.

Red meows, rubbing her nose on Blue before jumping down and following her owner.

“...right. Thanks again neighbor.” Kogane leaves the pizza on the countertop and promptly exits with Red by his feet.

After kicking off her shoes, Pidge flops down on the couch, making Blue jump with the impact. “He seems nice.”

“When he’s not leaving pizza guys stranded.” Lance opens the pizza box and slides it on a baking tray, placing it in the oven.

“Oh! Oh you have Mercury Game Flux Two! I forgot about this!”

“Want me to plug it in? I think it’s still saved from my last check point.”

Through his tipsy brain, Lance manages to plug in his old system and take out the pizza without burning himself.

He and Pidge laugh and scream at their game, constantly bumping shoulders so the other can win. There’s a banging on his door, probably the cop, so Lance loudly shushes Pidge, who just giggles as she kills Lance in game.

After a while, only Pidge is still laughing, while Lance yawns and rests his head on the couch.

After dying for the fifth time Pidge puts the controller down and leans onto Lance’s shoulder. “Wha-chu thinking about?”

Lance shrugs and lazily takes a bite of his pizza. “Nothing, sleepy is all.”

“Aw, old man Lance has to sleep at… fifteen vargas.”

“It’s only 1AM.” Lance chuckles. “Yeah, yeah early even for me.”

“Hm,” Pidge takes off her glasses and places them on the table. “You’re sad.”

“Am not.”

“You seem sad.”

“Nah, just… I don’t know. I’m not being a downer though am I?”

PIdge shakes her head. “You’ve been fun tonight. Thanks for- yawn- drinking with me. We should do this more often.”

“Yeah? When will you be available again?”

“Hnnng,” Pidge whines. “End of… July?”

That’s what Lance figures, so he tries not to look as disappointed as he is.

“Argh, with the merger coming up and developing the new software for NASA I think Zarkon is gonna try to get us to work overtime. Hnnggg… I love the money but my heeeaaad.”

Lance pats her head. “You’re their best worker Pidge. Your raise afterwards will be so nice, you gotta take me abroad.”

“Hehe, will do Lance-y. ‘M sleepy.”

“Here, take my bed. Ups-e-daisy now!”

Now that Pidge is sleepy, she hangs herself over Lance like a ragdoll. Lance gently lays her on his bed and drapes the covers on. She nuzzles into his pillow and mumbles a few garbled words before finally passing out.

Lance returns to his living room and cleans up. He lightly sweeps the crumbs off the table to the carpet, and says that he can vacuum in the morning. The dirty dishes are in the sink and soaking for him tomorrow.

He goes back into his closet and takes out the extra blanket and pillow. Blue waits patiently by the couch until Lance is ready. He takes off his socks and shirt, leaving him in just his tank top and boxers before he lays on the couch. Blue crawls up to his chest and plants herself down, already snoring.

Lance sighs, staring up at the dark ceiling. Another siren goes off in the distance, followed by a loud cheer from what sounds like a frat boy. If he listened closely enough, maybe he can hear Pidge snore.

He can’t help but think of his own question to Pidge, the same question he can ask Shiro, Hunk, and Allura too. They are all busy, with only a few nights off during the month, if they planned ahead.

As the owner of the bar, Shiro is there every night making sure they’re running smoothly. Allura is head surgeon at the veterinary, in a town where almost everyone has a pet. Pidge works almost an hour away in the city and with her big project coming up the only thing she’ll be free for is sleep, which she rarely does unless someone takes her to bed.

And Hunk, Lance’s best friend in the air force and college, whom he served as best man during Hunk’s wedding, has a wife and child now. When he isn’t in the office, he’s at home taking care of them. Lance tries to visit every week to help them out, and while Hunk does appreciate it, he tells Lance he needs to learn to be a father, and that Lance doesn’t need to sacrifice his time to help him.

Hunk is being honest, he’s not trying to push Lance away, but all that does is remind Lance that he has so much time in the world. While his friends are off working hard to support themselves and their livelihood, Lance is just, _there_.

He has a great job, benefits from the military, and his long-distance family he still talks to. There’s just an odd void in his life that keeps him up like this. It’s a void he tends to ignore, because honestly he’s _fine,_ just sometimes bored and maybe lonely.

He doesn’t want a romantic relationship to solve that void, however. It will be unfair to his partner and himself. He likes to talk and flirt, maybe make out if the other person has the time, but to commit when he’s not feeling it is not how he goes. If he finds something serious, it’ll be because he wants the commitment for the both of them.

Lance sighs again and pets the back of Blue’s hair. The sirens stop and it’s back to crickets and the wind.

* * *

The next morning Lance wakes to his own smelly breath and a heavy, zombie like groan. He opens one eye towards his bedroom and sees Pidge stumbling out, holding her head with one hand and propping herself on the door with her other.

“Ugh, I’m--”

“Never drinking that much again?” Lance muses. She sticks up her middle finger. “Need ibuprofen?”

“Yeah. Can you call Matt? I don’t wanna walk.”

“Want me to drive?” Lance offers, moving Blue aside so he can stand.

“Nah, you let me crash here, Matt can deal with me,” she says with a laugh. “But next time, we’re just going to the arcade and a movie.”

“They sell beer at the movies now,” Lane muses.

“You know what I mean. But yeah, thanks for letting me crash.”

“Anytime Pidge.” He hands her her glasses and takes out his phone. He sees he has a text from Matt already, assuming that Pidge is with him but just wants to make sure. He texts him that she is still there, and if he can pick her up.

“Matt will be here in 20. Want some breakfast?”

“Just toast, with a shit ton of butter.”

That was Pidge’s hangover ‘cure’. She claims the extra fat from the butter helps absorb her headache. Lance rarely wakes up to a hangover as it instead cures into the worst stomach ache he can have-- ten times more painful than food poisoning, and almost borderline getting kicked in the nuts several times. For Lance, ginger ale and his head by the toilet was his cure.

“Coming right up.”

He toasts five stacks of bread and uses an entire stick of butter for Pidge. Since he doesn’t have a hangover, Lance makes himself a nice breakfast of two eggs, bacon, and jammed toast.

They eat in silence, until Pidge recovers and can take noise again. By that time Matt texts that he’s in front of his apartment.

Lance opens the door for Pidge once she finds her shoes, socks, and purse. “Don’t work yourself too hard.” He holds out his fist, and Pidge gladly bumps it.

“Text ya later.”

Lance waves goodbye to her as she descends down the stairwell. Just then the door to his neighbor’s open. Kogane steps out, eyeing that Pidge is down the stairs. “Uh, good night?”

Lance raises an eyebrow. “Yeah. Fun. Sorry if we were loud. We heard the banging.”

He shrugs. “Whatever, you guys did quiet it down. By the way,” he reaches into his pocket and pulls out some bills. “For the pizza.”

Lance raises an eyebrow. “Uh, you gave me the pizza.”

“Yeah but, you know, for like-- well _being_ there.”

“About that,” Lance says, pushing the money back, “How do you order a pizza, and then just _leave_ your apartment?”

The officer blushes, which for a moment actually looks cute until the scowl returns. “I… someone called out at work and I ran out the door.”

Lance scoffs with a smile. “Well thanks for dinner.”

“Yeah, no problem. So…” He drums his fingers on his thighs. “Have a good Sunday?”

“... thanks? You too?”

With a nod his neighbor goes back to his apartment, leaving Lance alone in the hallway.

* * *

Blue whines and whines until Lance opens the sliding door.

“Okay, okay, sorry I was talking to Officer Grouch.”

Finally she’s able to jump out and relieve herself. She knows Lance will be upset if she pees on his towels again, and she doesn’t like to make him sad.

After she throws the little over her poop she jumps on the railing and calls out to Red. She can see Red on the other side of the her owner’s door.

Red looks like she was meowing as loudly before her own drags his feet to the door. He opens it without looking outside, and Red quickly joins her on the railing. She takes her inside because it’s breakfast time, and Red’s owner still has the weird food.

Lance holds an ice pack to his head as he pours food into her bowl. He looks down at them with a raised eyebrow. “Really? Why don’t you go home?”

Red says she likes it here better, which Blue likes.

“Ugh, whatever. Tell your owner he owes me lunch or something since I feed you.”

There’s an extra cup of food in her bowl as he places it down. Red sits behind to let Blue take the first bite before joining her. Lance goes back to his room and she hears him flop back onto their bed.

They finish their food and join Lance in the bedroom. Blue jumps on first and waits at the edge for Red. Red is hesitant for a moment, as if she’s not sure if she’s allowed. Blue tells her it’s okay, Lance likes cats, and Red does join.

They take the pillow Lance usually snuggles with and nest in it together. Red rubs her face next on Blue, and Blue licks her back.

Lance lifts his head. There are dark circles under his eyes. “Hey, you can’t be here.” He says to Red.

Blue meows, saying she invited her. “Fiiine, you two can nap here. Don’t pee on my paperwork.”

Blue passes along the message, to which Red almost sneers. She pees on her owner’s paperwork all the time. Blue is somewhat scandalized, because Lance will never let her do that!

A few hours pass before Lance finally gets up again. He drags himself into the shower to freshen up, and Blue takes Red back into the living room.

She climbs on her post and encourages Red to jump with her. They sit at the highest point and stare down at the rest of the living room. She likes that she can see everything, knowing that is what she owns.

Red enjoys the view too and says she doesn’t have a post like this. She usually climbs on the cabinets and her owner gets mad.

Lance emerges from the bedroom with his paperwork. He’s wearing different clothes, but not the ones that he usually goes out in. That means Lance is staying inside, and Blue wiggles her tail.

She climbs down to join him on the pillow and calls for Red.

Red sits on the top, staring intently. And then she jumps, all the way to the couch.

Blue and Lance let out a yelp as Red lands on her feet, but clawing out onto Lance’s leg to land properly. “Ow, ow, ow! What the hell Red?!”

Blue winces at his tone, but Red casually walks away and next to Blue’s side. She licks Blue’s face.

“That was a high jump buddy. You could have broken something.”

Red says she does it all the time, and Blue’s eyes widen.

Red holds her head high and licks Blue again. She likes Red’s kisses.

* * *

Blue likes their routine too. Red visits her during the day, and at night she has Lance all to herself. Pidge didn’t come back, though, and Lance looks bored. Sometimes she watches him play video games, and others he’s on a skype call with his mama. She likes it especially when Lance wears his pajamas with ears that looks like her’s. Now everyone knows she and Lance are related.

Then, Lance stops leaving during the day. It happens every year where he has a lot of time off, so now she, Red, and Lance can hang out.

This time, Lance seems a little sadder. He goes out in the morning for a run he says, and comes back with snacks from the convenient store.

One day he cleans the entire apartment. Another he knits a sweater, and a blanket for Blue and Red. Later that week, Blue wakes up to a marathon of Voltron, she thinks. It’s in a language she doesn’t understand, and there are words on the screen. Lance seems very engrossed.

She sometimes hears his mama’s and papa’s voice on his computer. Lance likes to have Blue on his lap and show her off to them. His mom laughs and calls her ‘fat’ but Lance insists that Red is bigger. His dad jokes to send Blue back so he has a companion while he’s still bedridden. Blue likes her grandpa, but doesn’t want to be apart from Lance too long.

Red still stops by even with Lance around, and Blue’s happy that she does. She likes sleeping and kissing her too. She wishes Red can live with her forever, but Lance always returns her to the neighbor. Red says she needs to keep her human company anyway, because he’s grumpy and lonely.

Maybe if Lance and Red’s human talk more, neither of them will be lonely. Then they can live together, and she can be with Red all the time. If only she’s able to talk like the humans.

* * *

Being an adult sucks. Being an adult with super busy friends, during _summer_ sucks even more.

He can only deep clean and marathon his favorite TV shows for weeks in a row before he goes crazy. Hell, he started _running_ again just to keep his mind busy, but even then it’s not like he can run all day.

He doesn’t blame his friends, though. He hangs out at the Paladin just for food but Shiro is busy with customers so it’s not like they’re actually hanging out. He can’t sit around Allura’s medical room and watch her stick her hand in a dog’s stomach. Pidge is still working overtime on her assignment, and Hunk and Shay are being the super responsible parents.

He went out once with a few teachers at school, it just wasn’t the same as everyone else.

He has another month to occupy his time, and has he wakes up one morning to actually decide to do something interesting, he receives a devastating phone call from his sister. Their Papa died last night, peacefully in his sleep.

He doesn’t respond at first, because last week on skype his Papa was laughing joyfully and walking around.

Maria says he was getting better, and he was discharged a month earlier because he was improving. As far as they could tell, he wasn’t showing any signs of relapse besides the fatigue.

He could hear Mama crying in the background, and once Lance hangs up he breaks down too.

The last thing he said to his Papa was ‘I love you’, which to many is a peaceful goodbye. But it’s not enough. His I love you’s always have the implication they were going to talk again.

He sobs into his hands, curling himself onto the couch and just let himself cry. He’s angry he can’t comfort his Mama, that he can’t directly help his sister with the rest of the arrangements. He’s already dreading the family reunion, because he can’t stand to see his uncle who screwed them over when they were kids.

Blue jumps on the couch and rubs her face on his arm. A chuckle comes out of Lance as he pets her. “I know, thank you beautiful.”

He needs to fly out tomorrow, and will most likely stay for a week, two tops. He wants to pack, but then remembers Blue. Someone needs to watch her.

Usually he can ask Pidge or Hunk, but with Hunk’s new family and Pidge sleeping in the office half the time, he can’t burden them with his cat.

But his neighbor seems to be home on a regular basis. He doesn’t seem to have a weird night schedule anymore.

Wiping his eyes Lance picks up Blue and walks over to Kogane’s place.

Kogane looks confused when he opens the door, but his face softens when he sees Lance’s face. “H-hey. Sorry this is sudden, but do you think you can watch Blue for a week?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah I can.” Red joins them at the door and meows happily to Blue. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah just…. Uh, sudden funeral is all. I have to fly out.”

“Oh-Oh! I’m so sorry.” There’s some awkwardness in the air, and judging Kogane’s face he isn’t sure what else to say. Lance chuckles to himself. This guy is a cop, isn’t he supposed to know how to comfort people? “But yeah, she can stay here. As long as she needs.”

“Thanks man.” Lance says, rubbing his eyes. “See beautiful? You can stay with Red longer.” He kisses her head. “I’ll give you her food and pillow before I go.”

“Yeah man, uh, take your time. And just let me know if you-- actually wanna switch numbers? In case I need to call or something?”

“Oh right, yeah let’s do that. “ Lance takes out his phone and gives it to Kogane.

“I’m really sorry for your loss though. So… yeah anything you need, neighbor.”

Lance takes his phone back, reading that his name is Keith Kogane. “Thank you, Keith.”

Keith nods, and Lance leaves to go pack.

He places Blue on the bed and promises her a treat if she stays put. She watches him with curious eyes.

* * *

“Okay Blue, be good for Officer Grouchey.” Lance smiles as he hands him over to the other human.

The other human rolls his eyes. “If she takes her attitude from you I might find more water filled cups on my bed.”

“Dude, if she does that you better record it. We’ll make millions.” Lance laughs. “Thank you, again. This seriously means a lot.”

“Of course. Just… good luck okay? She’ll be fine here so no need to worry on this end.”

“Yeah, yeah this helps a lot honestly. I’ll… uh, I guess I’ll text in case anything changes.” Lance digs into his pocket and pulls out a spare key. “And take this too, if you need something you know? And, uh, anyway yeah. See you guys in a week.”

He kisses Blue once more before he turns away with his luggage. Blue meows to him goodbye, and Keith closes the door.

Keith sets her down so she can cuddle with Red finally. Red rubs up against her in comfort. She doesn’t particularly like that Lance will be gone for a while, but having Red around helps a bit.

“Uh, yeah so lemme feed you guys.”

He takes out a flimsy, flat plate and fills it with the food. Blue steps back, confused that it’s not a hard bowl like she has at home. Red says Keith hasn’t bought proper plates yet, and even uses paper plates for himself. Blue thinks Lance can share his hard plates and bowls with him.

“I’m leaving the door open,” he tells them, going to the balcony. “So you can pee. I’m…  gonna take a nap. I guess.”

Red gives her a look, saying that her owner is soooo boring. They can get him up though if they hide up on the fridge and meow really loudly.

She tries to stop her when Red bolts to the countertop and then up on the fridge. Red wiggles her tail, trying to get Blue to join.

Blue tells her to get down, that it’s too dangerous to be up there. She once tried to hide on top of the fridge, but it was oddly warm and Lance got scared that she was hurt.

Red tells her to be a little more adventurous, and if she joins her she’ll give her more kisses. That almost tempts Blue, until she sees the challenging glimmer in Red’s eyes. She holds her nose up and says she won’t stoop to her level.

“What’s with all the meowing-- argh seriously? Again?”

Keith rushes to the fridge and reaches up. Red purposely moves back, making it harder for him to reach.

Blue says to stop teasing.

“Yeah, listen to your girlfriend asshat. Come on or else no treats tonight!”

That gets Red’s attention, so she allows herself to be caught. Keith places her next to Blue. “Behave Red.”

Red wiggles her tail and swats Blue’s. Blue turns her head away, and Red just laughs.

* * *

“You two be good alright? And Red I swear if I find scratches on my couch you’re going to the shelter.”

The threat is completely empty as Red seemingly shrugs him off. Blue on the other hand at least looks like she understands. If they weren’t two different colors, he would have switched his cat with Lance’s in a heartbeat.

Thinking of, it’s only been two days since Lance left for Cuba, and Keith hates to admit but it’s too quiet without him around. They prank war stopped, and their talks turned more into simple exchanges in the hallway, but now it felt like he’s alone in the entire building.

Blue is easy to take care of luckily. She seems content so long as she has her food and access to her litter box. Red, for some reason, has become more of a trouble maker. He only knows because Blue tattles on her.

The cats meow to him as he closes the door behind him.

\----

Keith was very vocal when he was initially reassigned, and apparently talking back to his superior officer forced him into the smallest, most boring town in Southern California. It was to teach him patience and discipline, forcing him to get to know the townspeople and help his ‘social skills’.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to communicate with people, but his first month on the job ended with several verbal confrontations with drunk frat boys, angry drivers with parking tickets, and an obnoxious rich woman who threatened to sue the department despite being the one to crash into the park while under the influence.

Placing him into a lower income community was counter intuitive as well. He had issues with the rich and entitled who knew they could pay bail, not the homeless man minding his own business.

His former boss was ‘kind’ enough to find him an apartment close enough to the station, but of course he chose a run down place that smelled like sewage.

He wished he could also blame his boss for the obnoxious neighbor, but at that point that was just his terrible luck.

At least Sanchez had a cute cat.

And when they weren’t doing prank wars, he was actually _tolerable,_ even to an extent very friendly.

As he brushes his teeth, Keith can’t help but feel a little sullen as his neighbor said goodbye to them for a week. Every time they saw each other Sanchez had a smirk on his face, or some smile even if it was Keith’s misery. Three days ago, as he dropped off Blue, was the first time he has ever seen him genuinely upset.

He only guessed he and father were very close for him to just break down to him like that.

Keith sighs, spitting into the sink. Of course most people he knew were close, or at least had some strong relationship, to their parents. He only wishes he knew more about his mother besides the stories his late father told him.

He shakes the thoughts out of his head. He doesn’t have to think about that now, or ever really. He already made it through three months in this town, no need to bring himself down.

After buttoning up his shirt Keith emerges back to the living room. Blue’s lying on the floor, curled up in a ball, while Red sits on his counter top despite telling her every day not to do so. Blue seems like a very obedient cat.

“Wish she was more like you,” Keith says as he scratched Blue’s chin. She purrs and nuzzles into his hand.

Red doesn’t look amused at the attention her best friend’s getting.

“Do you want scratchies too?”

He reaches his hand out but Red jumps off the couch and struts in front of Blue, rubbing her neck on her face.

“Fine, whatever. You two behave. I’ll be back later tonight.”

The cats just stare at him with their big, wide eyes. Who knew if they actually understood him. They at least have each other while he went for his shift.

* * *

Work in the town’s no less exciting. An office’s job is mostly paperwork after paperwork, and today is no different. He cited some kids for smoking, helped a homeless man find a shelter, and disputed an argument between a McDonald's employee and a customer, all before lunch.     

By three he starts yawning and rubbing his eyes as he tries, in detail, to write each incident report. He sighs for the fifth time, trying not to stare at the clock, afraid time will go backwards.

“Yo, Ko-gain.”

He rolls his eyes. After months of working here no one is learning to pronounce his last name correctly. “What, Rolo?”

“Ohoho, someone’s snippy today.” Rolo ruffles his hair. “Just wondering if you wanted to join us at the bar later.”

“Uh…” It isn’t that Keith doesn’t like to drink, because he loves a good whiskey, but drinking with his co-workers just says disaster.

“Come on mullet head, it’ll be fun! Plus, we need to see you drunk at least once,” Rolo says with a wink.

“And you’re not gonna,” Rolo pouts, trying to be cute by sticking out his bottom lip and giving him the puppy dog eyes. It doesn’t faze him the way Rolo wants it to, but he gives in anyway. “I could use some bar food though. I’ll be designated driver.”

“Sweet! That was gonna be my next suggestion.” Rolo says, hitting his back a little too hard. “Hey guys, Ko-gain is with us tonight!”

There’s some cheers on one side of the office, while the other side is filled with grumbles from the night shift crew.

Keith still has a few hours to go as he starts to nod off again. Maybe some loud music and sugary bar food will wake him up.

-

It doesn’t.

At the very least, he’s not getting sleepier. He’s just… bored.

According to Rolo, this is the only good bar in city. Modeling after a nerdy space theme, the blaring lights and colorful drinks has attracted the younger crowd. Rolo says college kids from the city over even come here just for the fun atmosphere.

Keith kind of gets it, being a giant space nerd himself, but there’s just too many people, and he rather have lights that aren’t moving or changing color every few seconds so he can see his water.

Rolo, Nyma, Haxus, and Klaizap are already 5 drinks too many, and according to Rolo if their chief, Kolivan, was there, then it’d actually be a party. He can’t even imagine their stringent, frowning, gruffy boss getting wild after a few beers.

“So, not really your scene?” The bartender asks. His nametag reads ‘Shiro’.

“You can tell?” He asks.

Shiro shrugs. “I haven’t seen you with them before, so either you’re new or they dragged you out here.”

“Both, actually,” Keith says, sticking out his hand, “I’m Keith, new officer in town.”

“Shiro,” he repeats, “But you’ve probably read that. Are you their DD tonight?”

“Pretty much. I wasn’t planning to drink anyway.”

Shiro smiles. “Well, all DDs get free space nachos, and lemonade.” He tells him as he writes in a new order.

“What makes it space themed?”

“The green cheese.”

Keith is a little taken aback, unsure how the color green is so associated with space, but he thanks Shiro anyway. Free food is free food.

As Shiro attends to another guest, Rolo swaggers his way to the bar and ungracefully sits down. “Hey, I think he was flirting.”

Keith raises his eyebrow. “Uh, I think you’re very drunk. He gives free nachos to all DDs.”

“Oh does he?” Rolo asks, trying to wiggle his eyebrows but instead just raises them up and down.

Keith points to another person, who only has a lemonade and nachos as well. Their group of friends surround them, slurring their words as they try to pawn off the nachos.

“Besides,” Keith says, “He’s married. Didn’t you see his ring?”

“Eh, details. Anyway come dance with us! Find a cute girl… or guy! There’s some nice looking single people there.” Rolo points towards the bathroom when he means to address a group of twenty somethings by a booth.

Keith shrugs. “Nah.”

“Nah? Come on Koganaayyy.” Well, at least he said his name right for once. “Make out with someone, get a blow job! That’ll maybe loosen you up.”

“I don’t need a blowjob to loosen up,” Keith says plainly. “Besides, I got a few cats at home.”

“Put them in the bathroom.”

Yeah, he’ll just put Red in the bathroom, again. Last time she freaked out, peed on his towels, clawed through the half broken wooden door, and pooped on his bed out of spite.

Plus, he can’t subject Blue to that mess.

“Oh hey! Nyma’s table dancing! Woo-hoo!” Rolo howls as he joins her.

Keith just sighs and turns back to the table. Shiro smiles at him amusedly as he gives him his food and drinks. Honestly, that’s the best part of the night.

He’ll definitely come by the Paladin again, but maybe during their slow hours, and alone.  

-

He comes home later than he wanted. His unit stayed longer than they promised, and driving all of them around to drop them off and help them into their houses was a pain, but now he was home and ready for sleep.

Red and Blue perk up as he enters, and he’s first greeted by Blue who rubs up against him. Red sticks her nose up in the air.

He puts down their dinner for the night before a quick shower, just to take out the sweat from the bar. When he’s done he finds Red and Blue sitting by the front door, Blue meowing loudly.

“What’s the matter girl? Is someone outside?”

Keith looks through the peephole. No one stood on the other side but Blue scratches at his door. He opens it and she dashes out and stands in front of Lance’s. She paws at it.

“You wanna go back home?”

Keith quickly takes the spare key Lance gave him and unlocks his door. Blue runs in and aims at their bedroom. She jumps on their bed and walks in a circle, meowing at the pillows. She meows again, louder this time, as if calling out for someone.

He sees her head fall down, and she makes a noise he’s never heard a cat make before. Red jumps with her and tries to rub her neck. Blue shies away, staring at the pillow.

“Oh… you’re looking for Lance huh?”

Blue lays her head down. Red licks her face, but Blue seems set on staying.

Lance probably wouldn’t mind if Blue stays just one night alone. She seems trained enough not to wet the bed in the middle of the night, but Red might do something just because Red is a jerk like that.

“Uh, hopefully he doesn’t mind me staying?” Keith says as he crawls into bed with them. So far Red’s never wet the bed when they were sleeping together, and that was the best way to ensure he wouldn’t have a mess to clean up. “You two better not tell him.”

He crawls under the covers while Blue and Red snuggle on a pillow.

Lance’s room is entirely blue, from the walls to the sheets, and his pillows. Each are a different shade, but somehow they all remind him of the ocean.

He turns his head to the nightstand. A picture of Lance’s family sits next to the lamp. The whole room is dark but he starts to make out the features of his family. Lance is in the middle, his arm locked with a girl around his age or older. To both their sides are an older couple who Keith guesses as his parents. There are other couples and small children too, most likely Lance’s extended family. They are all smiling in front of the beach, just as the sun is setting.

To think, Lance left them all behind to come out here. No wonder he was so devastated to hear of his father’s death. He is the last one to know, and he was alone when he grieved.

Keith turns away and closes his eyes. No one should have to grieve alone.

And while he’s been doing it for years, he never gets used to it.

* * *

To say he is tired is an understatement. Lance feels as if a thousand pounds of sand buries him deep underground. His eyes are still puffy from crying his heart out, and his throat is dry from the talking and screaming.

The only drama he wanted during his trip was his father’s death. But with a big family always came big drama, with problems arising that no one could fix, especially when one party member was _dead_.

As Lance drags his feet and suitcase down the hallway, he smells something nice coming from his apartment. He does a double take, making sure it isn’t Keith’s, but it is definitely coming from his. He texted Keith when he landed, that he was coming home, but that doesn’t explain why his apartment is occupied.

His apartment door is unlocked, and there’s faint noise coming from inside.

He opens his door and is immediately greeted by his cat.

Blue pounces on his chest, clawing to stay on. She meows and licks him as best as she can while hanging on.

“Ow, ow, ow! Blue! You’re stabbing me!”

He pulls out off, noticing a few holes in his shirt, and she whines loudly. He cradles her in his arms, kissing her head. “I missed you too beautiful.”

“Oooh hey, uh, welcome back?” Keith stands up from the couch while Red eyes them suspiciously. On the coffee table is Chinese take out that’s very warm. “I can explain. But I got you lunch.”

On cue Lance’s stomach grumbles, realizing now how hungry he is. He barely ate on the plane and only had a cup of coffee as he left the airport. He joins Keith on the couch, placing Blue next to Red, and takes one of the take out containers.

“Uh… so Blue really missed you. Like on the third day she kept scratching to get out and waited by your apartment,” Keith says. “And she wanted to sleep in your bed so I let her. I took her back during the day, but at night she really wanted to be here.”

Keith sounds out of breath as he explains himself. Lance shakes his head. “Dude, no problem at all. Glad my favorite girl missed me that much.” He scratches under her chin. “I missed you too Blue.”

Keith looks like he was eating, but now he stops entirely. His hands are on his legs, balled up. He stares between Lance and their food.

“So…” Keith draws out. “If you need to talk, or like, just vent, I can listen.” He says too quickly. “I-I’m not the best at holding a conversation but I can listen at least. Just… thought you should know. Red and I can get going if you need to unpack and stuff.”

Lance blinks, and blinks again, still registering Keith’s words. He’s unsure if he heard correctly, because this is the most Keith’s spilled in just one sitting.

Keith stands up, ready to leave when Lance grabs his hand. Violet eyes look stunned for a second as Lance pulls away. “S-sorry…”

“No it’s fine. Did… did you want me to stay?”

Lance nods, leaning back into the couch with his food on his lap. Keith sits down and takes his box too.

They’re silent for a bit, just the sounds of them chewing and an episode of _Arrested Development_ playing on Keith’s phone. When the episode finishes Lance decides to speak up.

“They told me I could just come back.” Keith raises an eyebrow, waiting for more. Lance sighs. “I offered to stay a little longer, just to take care of Mama you know? But my sister said she had it handled. Hell, Mama told me to return. They said they had everything covered but…”

Keith takes the food off his lap so Lance can bury his face in his hands. He holds in a sob, mostly because he’s not sure if he hand any more tears to shed. “I felt so fucking useless there. I helped pay for the funeral expenses but my aunts and uncles had everything under control. All I could do was sit there and fucking watch them doll up his body. Then that one uncle, whom we haven’t heard from in fifteen years, shows up with his family and demand some uncredited payment!”

Lance takes a deep breath. “He started talking shit about my dad, and he insulted Mama, and I decked him in the middle of the funeral and…”

He feels out of breath again, the air around him suddenly thinning. He opens his mouth but he can’t inhale anything, and his chest hurts and--

“Lance!”

Two hands are on his face. It takes a moment for him to realize it’s Keith, holding him gently.

Keith seems to realize what he’s done and he lets go, but one hand rests on his knee. “You’ve had one hell of a week Lance. You haven’t slept, have you?”

Lance shakes his head. He technically has, but he never felt rested when he woke up.

“I… I can’t even begin to say how sorry I am for your loss, or how you’re feeling right now. But I do know you at least need some rest. You’re back home now, where you can actually relax.”

Keith’s voice is stern, yet comforting. He’s trained to talk like this, right? To help calm someone down while keeping them level headed? Wow, he’s doing pretty well too.

“I can stay as long as you need, but I do suggest at least taking a nap in your bed.”

Lance wants to protest, but he doesn’t know what to fight against. He just nods weakly and stands up, dragging himself to his bedroom.

“You, uh, don’t have to stay,” Lance says as he reaches his doorway, “But… seriously Keith. Thank you for everything.”

“... It’s no problem at all. I’ll be next door if you need me.”

Lance smiles weakly. “Thanks, neighbor.”

He hears Keith leave with Red as he flops down onto his bed. Blue follows him and waits until he’s lying down before she jumps up. She licks his cheek and curls up next to him.

Lance reaches out and pets her head. Being back home on his pillow, in his bed, feels like a cloud. His apartment is cooler than his old home, something that helps him sleep at night. He listens to her purrs as he falls asleep.

* * *

The next day is a total blur to him.

Jet lag and just overall exhaustion makes him sleep for over 14 hours. He wakes up in the middle of the day, dazed and confused. Blue is whining because she needs to pee, but like a good trained kitty she waits until Lance lets her out.

There’s a note on his hanging plant that’s on Keith’s side of the balcony

_You okay? Not answering your texts. Lemme know if you need anything._

He blinks a few times, feeling the gross eye crusts falling out. He keeps the door open as he goes back inside to check is now dead phone. Ten minutes after plugging it into the charger his phone repowers, and filled with many text messages and missed calls.

Two are from his Mama, probably asking if he made it home safely. A few from Maria with the same question, Pidge and Hunk asking if he is okay, Allura offering to stop by with Shiro, and finally Keith. His are a series of messages concerned that he hasn’t woken up that morning, asking if he wants him to pick up lunch or dinner if he hasn’t eaten. The last message is a picture of Red, staring at the sliding door, as if waiting for Blue.

Lance texts him first, saying he finally woke up and will take that dinner offer if still available. He replies to his friends, and then calls his Mama just to hear her again. There’s still a few straggling family members in the house, but otherwise things have quieted down. She and Maria are picking up his father’s ashes next week.

Lance decides he needs a long bath. He fills Blue’s toy with a bit of catnip as he prepares.

He fills the tub three fourths with very warm water, warmer than he usually showers in. He takes out his salt scrubs, a bath bomb Allura gave him for Christmas, and two slices of cucumber for his eyes. He puts on music to drown out his thoughts. He knows it’s loud, and Keith can probably hear him, but he still needs “Lance Space” before functioning with another human being.

At some point he falls asleep again, because what jolts him away is his door slamming, and Keith calling out his name.

“Lance? You here… uh buddy? I got us some food.”

Lance chuckles at how awkward Keith sounds trying to be too familiar with him. He appreciates it, though, because Hunk and Pidge would say the same thing.

“In the bathroom. Gimme another ten minutes.” Lance submerges his head, letting the water wash away the salt scrub and his cucumbers. He drains the water and rinses off in the shower, and then drying off and putting on his favorite blue robe.

Keith is in his kitchen taking out what looks like pasta from the Italian place down the street. “Do you like red or white sauce?”

“White sauce is fine,” Lance says, taking his share. “Thanks again. I can get the next one.”

“Sure.”

Red joins Keith too, and brushes past Lance in order to play with Blue. Red rubs her face with Blue’s trying to get her attention, and failing miserably.

“How was work?” Lance asks.

“Alright. There was a bit of a scuffle outside Paladins.”

Lance immediately turns his head to Keith. “What? Is Shiro alright?”

Keith is twirling his spaghetti. “Oh, you know Shiro too?” His tone is still casual, but when he sees Lance’s face he turns to gentle. “Shiro is fine. He actually stopped the guy. Someone was trying to rob the place before it opened.”

“Oh thank god.” Lance says, sinking into his couch. “I can’t have someone else close get hurt.”

“I’ve only spoken to him once after work, and judging by his muscles he seems he can hold himself down.” Keith muses.

Lance shrugs. “Yeah but still…”

Keith gives him a small smile. “Shiro was sitting on him as we arrived. After work I stopped by again just to make sure things were good and he made me a milkshake. He’s really nice.”

Lance returns the smile. “He really is. I’ll introduce you to his wife, Allura. She’s the local vet, been taking care of Blue since I first adopted her. They’re a really nice couple.” He leaves out how they were supposed to take him out for his birthday when the news of his father came instead.

“That’ll be great. Red hasn’t seen a vet since I got her.”

Red meows pathetically, seeing as Blue wants to play more with her toy than her.

“Seriously? Dude she’s not vaccinated?”

“Uh… I think?”

Red seems to be healthy, and Blue hasn’t been sick so maybe Red’s clear of potential viruses and diseases.

“When did you get her? Did the shelter not have records?” Keith starts to look as red as his pasta. He looks away from Lance and mumbles something. “Huh?”

“She… uh… I didn’t exactly adopt her.”

“Oh. Well even if you bought her from a breeder most have some kind of medical history, unless you mean a cat mill--”

“No, no, nothing like that. Red, kinda just showed up?”

Lance raises an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

“The night after I moved in I left a window open, and then she just showed up! She was in my sink sleeping, and she kept coming back!”

Lance holds his mouth, trying not to laugh too hard since his mouth was filled with food.

“She adopted _you?_ ” He manages to say with a snort.

“I _guess_. She only leaves to see Blue, but after she’s back freeloading.”

Red meows, but this time at Keith. He sticks his tongue at her.

“Well now I’m definitely giving you Allura’s number. Gotta make sure Red’s healthy.”

“Thanks.” Keith says. He pauses, and then, “So… you’re gonna be okay?”  

Lance shrugs. “Yeah, eventually. I’m more angry I can’t help out more… but I’ll be fine. School’s gonna start again soon, so I can at least catch up with that. “

“Oh yeah, you teach at the middle school. Blue gonna be okay while you’re gone?”

“Yeah, she will.” Lance says. “But with Red here, I think she’ll be better.”

Blue sits on top of her catnip toy. Red snuggles next to her, letting Blue rest her head on her back.

“I’m glad.” Keith says.

Lance gives him a small smile. “Me too.”

* * *

Keeping busy before the new school year means going over his lesson plans and absurdly small budget for science experiments. Thank god for pinterest and a lot of upcycling science crafts, even if they seemed a bit juvenile for 8th graders. He has a stack of water bottles he wants to use for rockets, and a shit ton of baking soda and vinegar for other projects. He just wishes he could do more, but that was the public education system.

A week before the first day Lance is in his underwear, casually scrolling through parent websites Blue suddenly throws up on the couch. She looks super guilty, so Lance pats her head and reassures her everything is okay as he cleans it up. She isn’t looking too hot, and her stomach and nipples are a little swollen. He’s been feeding her the same amount of food as usual, so maybe she did catch some buy Red may have given.

He calls Allura who has an opening for that day. He puts her in her travel carrier and walks down to the vet. Blue complains the entire time, so as they sit in the waiting room Lance sticks his fingers inside so she can nibble on him.

Allura comes out and greets them happily. She leans down and coos at Blue, who just whines. She takes them to the examination room.

She lays Blue on the table. Blue has always been good around Allura, so she lets Allura roll her around as she takes her heartbeat and temperature. “Anything else besides the vomiting?”

Lance scratches his head. “No, it was kinda sudden. She only became more vocal after the fact. But she seemed fine otherwise. Oh, she’s been hanging with my neighbor’s cat, he said she wasn’t vaccinated though so maybe Blue caught something?”

Her stethoscope goes from Blue’s heart to her stomach. Allura pauses for a moment, keeping it there. “Although that’s a possibility I think there’s another.” Lance just raises an eyebrow, and for some reason Allura’s beaming. “Congratulations Lance, you’re gonna be a grandfather!”

“Come again?!”

“I can’t be 100% unless we do an ultrasound but Blue’s pregnant. See her swollen nipples there? She’s getting ready to produce milk. And mostly likely she threw up from morning sickness.”

“Whoa!” Lance stops her. His loud voice startles Blue. “Pregnant?! My baby girl can’t be pregnant!”

“Like I said we can run an ultrasound, but I’ve seen this before and she’s showing the signs.”

“No, no, you know I don’t let Blue out of the apartment! What street cat decided to knock her up?!”

Allura pauses, and then, “Didn’t you say she likes to hang out with your neighbor’s cat.”

“Yeah, but Red’s a girl!”

“Are you sure? It may be a little hard to tell…” Allura says.

Lance really, really thinks about it. He knows Calico cats are mostly female, except for that one special male. But there was no way Red was one of few male Calico cat, who are also usually sterile cats.

But, that is the only explanation. Blue and Red always stay at home, together, alone. Red is super protective of her, and they constantly nest together…

“Do the ultra sound. I’ll be right back.” Lance says, leaving the vet before Allura can stop him.

* * *

Lance bursts through the police station doors. He ignores the secretary in the front and walks through the desks. The station isn’t too big, just with ten desks at most, and with his fury vision Keith stands out like a sore thumb. He looks bored as he writes his police report, so Lance stomps over and slams his hand down on his desk.

Keith startles and practically jumps.

“You bastard!”

“What the hell Lance?!”

He knows everyone is looking at them and he can’t give a damn.

“You got my baby girl pregnant!”

Keith’s mouth opens while his eyes grow in pure confusion. He doesn’t say anything, but the rest of the room does.

There’s a howl from the desk behind him. The other officer slaps his back. “Oooh Ko-gain! Knocked up this guy’s daughter? What a hoot!”

“So your uptight ass actually made it in someone,” A female officer says, “Damn, coulda used protection though.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?!” Keith finally rebuttals. “Who did I get pregnant?!”

Lance jabs his finger to Keith’s chest. “Your street cat put babies in my innocent Blue!”

The room quiets with murmurs and confusion. “Red’s a girl!” Keith says.

“Are you sure?! Because Red is the only cat I let her play with, so he’s the only culprit!”

“What the Quiznak is going on out here?!”

All officers pretend to go back to work when another door opens. He looks like the Chief of Police, and he stares hard at Lance and Keith.

“Sorry Chief, just a civilian complaint.” Keith says, sneering at Lance to play along.

The Chief looks to Lance for an answer.

“Yep, sorry, this guy just… gave me a ticket. And I got mad. Anyway,” Lance backs away from Keith’s desk, “We’ll talk about this later. I’m still livid.”

“I apologize for the inconvenience, _sir_.”

Lance pouts, and Keith crosses his arms. They stare at each other for a few more seconds before Lance finally leaves.

* * *

Blue isn’t sure why Lance is upset. Allura seems happy, and Red’s been ecstatic ever since she noticed her stomach growing slightly. He keeps staring at a piece of paper with frustration, so Blue jumps to his side and nuzzles him. His mood softens as he kisses her.

“I’m sorry beautiful. It’s not your fault.”

A loud meow from the balcony catches their attention. Red’s outside, waiting for Lance to open the door.

She notices Lance hesitate and his pout returns. He doesn’t look like he wants to open the door, so she nudges his leg until he does.

Lance sighs and lets Red in. Red joins her on the couch and asks to listen to their babies. Blue rolls over to her side, exposing her stomach. Red nuzzles her and makes a pleased noise.

“Tch, you’re lucky you’re cute.” Lance says to Red.

Blue asks Red why Lance is mad at her. Red says it’s because she’s taking her away from him, but that only confuses Blue. She’s still with Lance, so how can she be gone?

A few hours later someone knocks on their door. Red says she smells her owner, and when Lance opens the door she’s right.

Keith has his hands up, with one of them holding a bag of food. “I bought dinner.”

They hear Lance’s stomach grumble, so Lance lets him in.

Red barely bats an eye when her owner comes in, and instead focuses her attention on Blue only.

Keith takes out their food, and Blue scrunches her nose. The smell is super strong, nothing she feels like begging off them tonight. She nuzzles into Red’s thick coat, her smell making things better.

“Uh, sorry.” Lance says first.

Keith looks surprised. “Huh, that’s what I was gonna say.”

“For just barging into your work like that. I coulda gotten you in a lot of trouble.”

Keith shrugs. “No big deal, Kolivan’s an understanding guy.”

The two join them on the couch. Red hisses at their owners, but Blue tells her not to do that.

“Okay, how did you _not_ know Red’s a boy?”

“Calicos are mostly girls! How would I know he’d be the one in three thousand male?”

Blue turns to Red, asking what they mean by boy. Red isn’t sure, and says she’s always been called ‘she’. It didn’t matter though, because she will still take care of Blue regardless of what they call her.

“And besides, I thought Blue would have been spayed.” Keith says. Blue’s heard that word before, and from the other cats at the vet’s they said it’s a scary experience.

This time, Lance looks sheepish, but he refutes back quickly. “Do you know how much surgery for that is?”

“... fair point. Speaking of… I can pay for part of the visit today. It must have been a lot.”

“A little, if you don’t mind. I have insurance, but Allura had to do an ultra sound today so that’s why it’s a little high.”

“Yeah, I’ll give you the check later.”

They finally start to eat, which Red is thankful for because she wants a bit of peace and quiet so she can take care of Blue.

Blue lets Red pamper her with kisses and licks. She takes a glance at Lance and Keith, and notices how close they’re sitting on the couch.

* * *

The new school year is chaotic. Somehow the new 8th grade class of 2017 are nastier, louder, and eviller than the previous. They are all hellspawns of Satan himself, to the point that Satan won’t let them back into hell.

Lance, admittedly, was one of those kids at their age. He didn’t torture the faculty, or make the new English teacher cry (poor girl, he’s afraid she may quit before thanksgiving break), but he was a little shit, interrupting his teachers and talking back just to rile them up.

By fourth period Lance is just as done with the day as his students. They’re all too antsy and just want to leave for lunch. Since it’s only the first day, Lance tends to go easy on his kids and just reads the syllabus and allows them to spend the rest of class reading or homework time for other classes (he knows Haggar loves giving piles and piles no matter what day it is).

He keeps an eye out for the trouble makers, which he can already see is the platinum blond kid sitting in the back with two girls giggling at his side. The kid gives him a glare, one that says

There’s about twenty minutes before the period ends when his cellphone goes off. It doesn’t ring or vibrate, but he sees it light up several times. Lance ignores it, but takes note that it goes off at least five more times.

The bell rings for lunch and his kids are out the door in a second. He finally checks his phone to see they’re all coming from Hunk. He calls him back.

_“Dude, I’m so sorry, but it’s an emergency.”_ He sounds frantic and out of breath.

“Hunk? Is everything okay?”

“Someone broke into our house while Shay and Tsuyoshi were home!”

Oh holy shit, that he didn’t expect. “Are they okay?!”

“I-I think. She was crying on the phone but I’m still in LA. I’m driving home now but I won’t make it back for another hour. I know you’re in class but if there’s anyway you can check up on her… she’s not doing well.”

Lance runs his hands through his hair. That’s a tight position but there is a way he can help. “Yeah, yeah gimme a bit I can do something.”

“Oh god man, I owe you so much.”

“Just get back safely.” Lance tells him and hangs up.

He has Hunk and Pidge as his emergency family contact, so that can be a reason to leave early. It is an emergency, and the VP used to be the science teacher.

Begging them to leave early takes a while, but the VP does agree for the emergency. It helps his reputation with the school is clean, and he’s known to be the teacher who helps out troubled students. They let him go, on the condition that he has to volunteer for the winter dance. Lance rolls his eyes and agrees, because Hunk and Shay come first.

He takes a lyft because the busses don’t run to Hunk’s neighborhood in a reasonable time. By the time he gets there there’s a police car outside and the door is still open. Lance takes a deep breath, hoping to find a way to help calm whatever is inside. Shay still isn’t used to the united states, and with Balmera still under a military police state, she isn’t too trusting of authority.

He hears faint talking in the living room so he follows the noise. Shay’s sitting on the couch, clutching Tsuyoshi tightly in her arms while the officers talk. There’s a band aid on her head, and tear streaks down her face. One of the officers doesn’t even need to turn around for Lance to see it’s Keith.

“Lance! Thank goodness you’re here!” She rushes over to him and embraces him.

Keith raises an eyebrow, clearly confused why he’s here. The other officer, the one who sits behind Keith, asks for him. “You her husband?”

Lance shakes his head. “No, family friend. Hunk's still in LA traffic.” He touches the band aid on her forehead. “ _Are you okay_?” He asks in the little bit of Balmeran he remembers

She nods, and her demeanor relaxes immediately. “ _Yes, but I'd be more comfortable if Hunk was home.”_

“Uh…” Keith interrupts, “We're essentially almost done here, but I cannot guarantee we'll find the perpetrator right away.”

Shay nods, understanding. “He only managed to take my mother's earrings.”

Lance's face falls. Those were given by her mother when Shay was younger. When they met, she never took them off in remembrance of her. She only has recently because Tsuyoshi likes to tug on them.

“I… even when Hunk comes back I do not feel safe here. The lock and front door is completely broken.”

“Hey, you two are staying with me then.” Lance immediately offers. “I mean, it's not the best place but no one has broken in ever. Oh! And Officer Kogane here is my neighbor!”

Keith's partner smirks. “Oh really? This is the neighbor who threw cat shit on your balcony?”

Keith and Lance blush. “Yeah,” Keith says, “But I like his cat.”

“Go pack an overnight bag, and we'll call Hunk along the way.”

Shay nods and heads to their bedroom. Keith runs his hands through his hair. “Uh… we’ve basically took as many notes as we could so…”

Disappointment sets in Lance, but he knows he can’t blame Keith. The guy is long gone by now, and until they get a description out there isn’t anything left for them to do.

“Yeah, that’s fine man. I can help Shay from here.”

His partner nods. “Alright, let’s go Ko-gain.”

Lance waves bye to them as they leave the house. Keith just nods to him, which for some reason Lance reads as a ‘see you at home’ type thing.

Lance helps carry the duffel bag and Tsuyoshi’s baby carrier into the Lyft as they go back to his apartment. Lance talks most of the time, just to help put Shay at ease. She seems appreciative, and always responds to what he says.

When they get to his apartment, Blue and Red are lounging on the couch as per usual. Blue lays on her side so her stomach has enough breathing room. Red eyes them suspiciously but doesn’t make a move just yet.

“Oh? So this is your new son-in-law?” Shay teases as she slowly approaches them. She pets Red first, who quickly warms up to her and doesn’t hiss when she pets Blue next.

“Yep, asshole couldn’t keep it in his fur.”

This time Red does hiss in Lance’s direction. Blue meows at her and Red goes back to napping.

“Lance, thank you again for doing this for us,” Shay says. “I’m going to call for someone to come by tomorrow for home security.”

“Yeah, here gimme the little guy,” Lance says, holding out his arms. Shay passes Tsuyoshi to him and he starts bouncing him. Tsuyoshi gurgles happily.

Shay goes to the balcony to make the call while Lance sits on the couch with his nephew. “Hey there little guy. You’re okay, right? Papa will be home soon.”

Tsuyoshi giggles again.

“Although you can’t play with Blue this time, she’s a little full with babies.”

Red meows as if agreeing with him. She jumps down the couch and scratches on the door, and a second later there’s a frantic knock.

Lance quickly goes to the door, knowing it’s probably Hunk. He’s mostly right, because Hunk comes barreling in and spilling thank you’s and tears as he takes his son and kisses his head.

“Shay’s at the balcony. Go, go,” Lance encourages.

Behind Hunk is Keith, still in his uniform. “Hey officer,” Lance muses, letting him inside.

“Uh hey, got off work,” Keith says. “And I totally didn’t pick something but for food but we can order in? If you want.”

“Do you ever cook?” Lance asks, earning a small blush from Keith. Lance just laughs. “I feel like Thai. But I promise an actual home cooked meal later.”

Keith nods and glances over at the balcony, watching as Hunk holds Shay and kisses her. Tsuyoshi waves his arms, prompting both parents to laugh. “This is nice… what you’re doing for them.”

Lance shrugs. “They’re my best friends, they’d do the same for me.”

“Yeah… I’m uh, going to go shower and order food.” Keith says as he starts walking out. Red is by his feet, ready to leave with him. “But uh, Hunk and Shay are probably taking your bed, right?”

“Yup. I mean my couch is good for a night.”

“Oh…”  

Lance raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Nothing!” Keith says. His face is completely red though. “Just, uh, I’ll be right back with food!”

Keith’s about the escape but Lance stops him before. “Not so fast officer!” Keith and Red comically in their tracks, just before Keith is able to turn his door nob. “What were you gonna say?”

Lance wiggles his eyebrows. Keith rolls his eyes but the blush stays. “I was… gonna offer you to stay… with me.”

Somehow, Lance knows that’s what Keith wanted to say, judging by the way he quickly dodged his question. Still, Lance returns the blush but tries to stay composed. “You sure? My couch really isn’t that bad.”

Keith shrugs. “It’s whatever you want. Anyway I’m… gonna, change… now.”

Lance salutes him. “You do that officer.”

Once Keith closes his door, Hunk and Shay step out of the balcony. “Lance, seriously, thank you so much for this,” Hunk says.

Lance pulls them into a big hug. “Guys, I told you it’s fine! It’s been a long day for you two.” He takes Tsuyoshi in his arms again. “Go, shower, make love in there I give you permission.”

The scandalized looks on their faces are priceless. “Lance…” Hunk groans, punching his arm.

“Tsuyoshi and I are gonna wait for officer stick up his ass to get us take out. Shoo, shoo!”

Shay takes Hunk’s hand and leads him into Lance’s bathroom. He doubts the two are actually going to have shower sex, but he knows the two need each other right now. Hunk must have known by now the intruder hit Shay when she was trying to protect their son, and no doubt Hunk was furious. Hunk wants to comfort her, and Shay needs to unwind.

Tsuyoshi giggles and tugs at Lance’s shirt. “I know buddy, that was scary right? But mommy is relentless! She will kill a bear to protect you.” Tsuyoshi laughs again.

Blue brushes her face next to Tsuyoshi’s hand. Her stomach looks bigger now. “Blue, you’re gonna be over protective too, huh? No one is going to hurt your kitties.”

She meows in agreement.

After ten songs of ‘The wheels on the bus’ and an episode of Dora the Explorer, Shay and Hunk come out of the bathroom. They look refreshed and better relaxed than before. Tsuyoshi wiggles in Lance’s lap to go back to his mom.

“I’m going to wash Tsuyoshi.” Shay says.

“Here, I can do it.” Hunk says, but Shay shakes her head.

“I got this dear,” Her eyes go between Hunk and Lance no so subtly.

When she goes back into the bathroom, Hunk sighs, like he was holding his breath the whole time. “Dude, I’m so sorry.”

Lance looks at him, confused. “For…?”

“It was your first day of school, wasn’t it?”

“Oh… that.” Lance says with a shrug. “I have you guys down as ‘family’ so this was a family emergency. Beating the system bud.” Lance winks.

Hunk shakes his head. “No, that wasn’t fair of me to ask. I could have made you lose your job! And I should have been at home instead of taking that stupid trip! And after your father I wasn’t there for you--”

Lance takes Hunk’s face into his hands and squishes his cheeks. His lips form an ‘oh’ and makes him look like a puffer fish. “Hunk, I said it’s _fine._ Work has you whipped, and if you didn’t take that trip you knew you were going to lose your job!” Lance says with a smile. “Hell, I would have asked the same if something happened to Blue!” He lets Hunk go. “And with my father… look that was sudden. I didn’t tell Pidge or Shiro and Allura until after I arrived in Cuba. But I was here and available for you and Shay, and I always will be.”

He sees tears in Hunk’s eyes, both from guilt and appreciation. “Dude… you can’t cry.” Lance says, feeling himself tear up. “You know what happens when you cry!”

Hunk pulls him into a tight hug, and Lance brings him in as close as possible. “Lance… you’re just the best…”

“Heh,” Lance sobs. “Don’t you forget it buddy!”

They pull away from each other. Hunk was never a pretty crier, but he didn’t care. He cried because he had to and Lance is always there for that. “So… you and that officer huh?”

“Uh…” Lance says, rubbing his eyes. “What about him?”

“Pidge mentioned your prank encounters with your neighbor, but he’s bringing over dinner?”

“Riiiight, that.” Lance laughs nervously. “Uh, he owed me dinner after I had to pay for his pizza, and then his cat got Blue pregnant so he gave me food for that and… huh.” When is the last time he had a homecooked meal? So far it’s been take out and leftovers which is not good for his figure considering all the fat in the food.

“So you two are just… neighbors with food benefits?”

“... maybe? I mean we are friends! And he watched over Blue when I was gone so… yeah?”

Hunk’s eyes are still red but his face is a full grin. “You’re blushing.”

“What?! No I’m not!”

“Are you crushin on your neighbor cop?”

Lance lightly shoves Hunk, and with Hunk’s weight Lance just falls back. “Shut up! He gives me food and I like anyone who gives me food.”

“If you say so, buddy. Just know he’s cute and I support anyone who wants to watch over your baby.”

Keith comes back thirty minutes later, with enough food for everyone. They sit around Lance’s couch, with Hunk and Lance telling stories about their college days. To Lance, it seems like Hunk is trying to talk Lance up, noting how Hunk only tells the triumphant stories of Lance, or the funny ones where Lance still looks like the better guy. Keith laughs at all their stories though, which is a win in his book.

Once Tsuyoshi falls asleep, the parents decide it’s time for bed. Lance insists he and Keith can clean up, bidding Hunk and Shay goodnight.  

Lance sits back on his couch and yawns loudly. “God, forgot I still have work tomorrow.”

Keith chuckles. “Can’t call out huh?”

“Nope, need my parent’s permission.” Lance says with a grin.

Keith gathers the disposable plates and utensils. “Uh, you know, the offer for my place is still open.”

“Yeah? And where are you going to sleep?”

Keith shrugs. “My couch?”

“So this is a game of we take each other’s beds, because we don’t want the other person to sleep on the couch?”

He likes watching Keith fluster, it’s a cute look on him. “Well, I was just trying to be nice!”

“I know, I know.” Lance defends. “But I do feel bad if you take the couch.”

Keith throws away the disposables, but stays by the kitchen to pace around. “Well, uh. If you don’t mind then… we can share the bed?”

…

Huh

See the thing is, Lance kinda expects that question. It seems that’s what Keith was hinting at earlier. So why is he still just as embarrassed as Keith?

“J-just an idea! Because honestly my couch is fine and you actually have to get up early!” Keith starts to blabber. “They have me the night shift tomorrow so I was probably gonna take a nap anyway when you leave so it wasn’t like it was a big deal… You know yeah I’ll just couch it! No problem--”

“Keith.” Lance interrupts. “I’m going to shower, then I’ll be over in 20.”

Keith blinks at him, blinks again, and-- “Okay…”

“Take Blue with you, I think Red’s getting mad that I’ve sat between them during dinner.”

Keith picks up Blue while Red stays by Keith’s feet. He nods and leaves to go back to his place. When the door closes Lance pulls against his shirt collar. Huh. When did it become hot?

* * *

Rarely in Keith’s life does he ever panic. And when he does, he’s pretty good at hiding it. He stays quiet, as he always does, but inside, he’s screaming.

Just as he’s doing now.

Red and Blue are staring at him, confused to why he’s just standing against his door and breathing harshly.

Did he really just… ask Lance to sleep with him?!

Not sleep-sleep but, sharing a bed. Which is still too intimate between neighbors.

Why did he ask this?! Oh right he thinks Lance is cute and he likes having dinner with him that’s why.

He glares at Red. “This is your fault.”

She doesn’t do anything, but Keith thinks she shrugs her shoulders.

“Argh, whatever!” Keith runs into the bedroom and starts to put away his mess. The one thing he notices about Lance’s place is how everything is neat and clean, not a sock out of place.

Keith’s room… well he has no excuse to why his clean laundry is still crumpled on the edge of his bed while his dirty clothes lay scattered on his floor. He takes out the laundry basket from his closet and tosses the dirty clothes in there. He can fold his clean clothes, but instead shoves them into the closet.

He goes into his bathroom next and cleans the hair in his sink and bathtub. Lance probably isn’t going to use his bathroom but he can’t be too careful.

When he’s done Red eyes him suspiciously while Blue nestles into their edge of the bed.

Lance knocks on the door as he still cleans the toilet. The weird ring inside is gone so he flushes and runs to the door.

Lance stands there in a blue shirt and long pajama pants with cat prints. He also wears his cat slippers and holds his cell phone and charger in his hand.

“Hello neighbor,” Lance says with a smile.

Keith rolls his eyes. “Just get in here.”

He leads Lance to his room, and luckily Lance doesn’t comment on anything except his Voltron figurines that are gathering dust.

Lance sits on the right side of the bed, Keith on the left. Their cats lay in the middle edge, watching them intensely.

“Welp, gonna set an alarm for 6AM if that’s okay.”

“Yeah that’s fine.” Keith pauses for a moment, watching as Lance goes under the covers. He feels the judgemental look from Red and eventually just crawls in too.

Both of them sleep on their backs, Keith’s arms are comically straight and stiff to his sides, while Lance folds his over his chest. Both are clearly uncomfortable with their sleeping position, but Keith knows if he sleeps normally he may hit Lance, or cuddle him.

Only a few minutes pass but it feels like an hour. Keith isn’t tired, and although Lance should be asleep his eyes don’t look sleepy at all.

“So… that was nice. What you did for the Garretts.” He starts.

“Hunk’s been my best friend since we were stationed in Colorado.” Lance says. “And we met Shay when we did the Peace Corps for a year. We were stationed in Balmera during their military take over.”

Keith turns his head. “You were peace corps?”

“Just right after our service. Kinda wanted to do a bit of travelling before college. But meeting Shay… I’m glad we got her out of there but her family,” Lance sighs. “They wanted to stay. And I get that. Hunk works overtime not just for their child, but to send money back to them.”

Keith has no idea what to say to that. He had an idea Shay wasn’t born in the US but to hear that is just amazing.

“Hunk kept apologizing,” Lance says with a chuckle. “He doesn't like to be a burden but honestly, I didn’t mind at all. Yeah work may give me a hard time but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. They’re my family, you know?”

Keith stays silent for a minute, because this time he doesn't exactly know. He never had anyone drop everything just to help him out. Everything he’s done he did for himself, to survive. Relying on others… that’s not something he’s been able to do for a long time.

“My parents died when I was in middle school. Both sides of my family weren’t happy with their marriage in the first place, so I was tossed around until I was 18. I had a scholarship to college by then but… no. I guess I never really had a family after that.”

Well, Keith deserves all the rewards for completely turning the night to the most uncomfortable and awkward situation possible.

It’s Lance’s turn to be quiet, and Keith kinda wants to crawl out of bed and sleep on the couch. What the hell is Lance supposed to say to that anyway?! He’s had bad few weeks, and he didn’t need Keith to try and one-up him with his sob story.

“I’m sorry,” Lance says, turning his head to him. “Really. You didn’t need to tell me but thank you anyway. I can’t even imagine…”

Keith sighs in relief. Okay, he hasn’t messed this up. “It happened a long time ago. Not like I stayed in one place for a while anyway so I never really found attachments.”

“Well… I hope you do stay longer. Because I feel like we’re kinda a family.” There’s light humor in Lance’s voice.

Keith turns over to face him. “Yeah?”

“Your cat got my cat pregnant. We’re related by force.” Lance smiles at him. “But seriously… you’ve done a lot for me and I can’t thank you enough. I just want you to know you can lean on me too.”

“Lance…”

“And soon enough Hunk and Shiro and Allura and Pidge too,” Lance continues. “Trust me, you’re probably going to get a pie soon from Hunk for just showing up at their place. Pidge wants to hang out again after our last encounter, and you still need to talk to Allura about Red. Shiro kinda knows you now and he’ll offer his help more than anyone.”

“I’d… I think I’d like that,” Keith confesses, and it feels like a weight's been lifted off his shoulders.

“Good.”    

Lance shifts around, accidentally disturbing their cats. “Okay, I move a lot in my sleep, but I also grab things and cuddle. So unless you want me to suffocate you, we need a pillow between us.”

“... I can start relying on you?”

Lance gives him a confused look. “Yeah man.”

“Then we don’t need a pillow.” Keith holds his breath again, hoping that Lance catches on.

Luckily for him, he does.

Keith closes his eyes as Lance’s long arms wrap around him and pull him into a tight hug. His nose rests on Lance’s collarbone. He’s surprisingly cool to the touch even though Keith is sure he’s heating up from embarrassment.

“Thanks,” he mumbles.

“Anytime neighbor.” Lance says with a yawn.

Hm. Somehow it doesn’t feel like he’s suffocating. He feels safe and comfortable in Lance’s arms, something he wishes he can fall asleep to every night.

* * *

The next morning Lance sleeps through his alarm, and is almost late to first period. He rushes out of Keith’s apartment, and then his own, saying goodbye to everyone loudly as he tries to catch the next bus.

Keith wakes up a few hours later to a text from Rolo. They caught the intruder and he’s currently sitting in their jail cell. Keith goes over to Lance’s and gives Hunk and Shay the good news. They stay until Lance comes home to tell him too, but Keith questions why Hunk keeps giving them a _look_ , one that Rolo gives when someone cute flirts with Keith.

It isn’t like the two were flirting! He talks to Lance like he talks to his co-workers. Except he doesn't ask his co-workers to sleep in the same bed as him, or offer his body for cuddles. Even with all the take out he does between the two of them… it’s not like he’s paying for a date.

Right?

… when did he fall in love with his neighbor?

* * *

Lance: So. I’m only asking bc Hunk won’t stop teasing. He got Pidge and Shiro to do it too.

Keith… yeah?

Lance: Do you like me?

Keith: Like, like? Or Like-like?

Lance: what are we five?  
But yes

(ten mintues later)

Keith: yeah, I like-like you.

Lance: Good. Come over tonight. I’ll grab dinner this time.

Keith: what, what about you? Do you like-like me?

Lance: Stop sounding like a five year old  
Yes I do ;)

Keith: alright. Awesome.

Keith excuses himself to the bathroom and fist pumps the air. Kolivan walks into that, and then slowly backs away.

* * *

_A Few Weeks Later:_

Red insists that Blue should stay on their couch, and that she can drag the food bowl to them. Blue rolls her eyes and says the food will just spill on the floor and she’ll have to get go on the floor anyway.

Red huffs and lies back down so her head is near Blue’s belly. She’s grown so much bigger, and Blue says their kittens are definitely kicking.

They hear Lance’s keys jingle, which is good because now someone can give food to Blue. Lance enters and greets them happily. Red meows loudly to get his attention, and after yelling so much Lance does move their food bowl to the couch.

They hear another set of keys and Red guesses it’s from her home. Keith seems to be home early which is strange, and Lance seems to think so too.

Lance goes out to the balcony. A second later they hear Keith’s voice and the two start talking. Red tells Blue she’ll investigate, and even though Blue protests, Red is already off the couch and walking to the balcony.

Lance rests his back on the railing while Keith, on his side, leans over it. In his hand is a cigarette, something Red has seen with other people but never with Keith.

“I didn’t know you smoked.” Lance says.

Keith shrugs. “Used to back in my ‘rebellious teen years’. And only when I’m really, really stressed.”

“You know, smoking is bad for the babies.” Lance says, tilting his head down to Red. Red agrees, she hates the smell of smoke.

Keith groans, and after another long drag puts out the cigarette.

“What’s stressing you out?”

Keith’s eyes barely glance over at Lance. “I shot someone today.”

Red sees how Lance’s face drops to sadness and shock. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah…”

“W-what…?”

Keith shakes his head. “The guy was holding his girlfriend hostage. He had a knife to her throat, I saw an opening and took it.”

“Did he…?”

“He survived, girlfriend too.” Keith takes the cigarette again, forgetting it’s unlit, and then puts it back down. “The Chief is actually happy. I saved her life and he can go on trial but--”

“You still had to pull the trigger.”

Keith nods. He runs his hands through his hair and it looks like he wants to pull it out.

“I-I never had to use deadly force. I’ve tased some guys and gotten into a fist fight but this was… what if I actually killed him? E-even if it was justified I can’t live with myself knowing I did that!”

“Hey, hey Keith.” Lance moves from his spot and climbs over the railing that separates their spaces. Keith shakes his head, trying to dispute whatever Lance has to say next. Lance takes Keith into his arms and pulls him to his chest.

There’s a sob from Keith, so Lance runs his hands through Keith’s hair. “There’s no point in thinking of what-if’s. The guy’s alive, you’re a hero.”

“I don’t feel like one,” Keith mumbles.

“No, but get on my level of narcissism, and you will soon.”

Lance kisses Keith’s forehead and then his cheek where he was crying. Keith gives him a shaky laugh and Lance kisses him again.

“How about we order greasy pizza tonight and marathon Voltron?”

“I-I’d like that.”

Red wiggles her tail, agreeing with their plan. She jumps, though, when Blue appears behind her asking what kind of pizza they’re getting.

Red scolds her, that she shouldn’t be up and straining herself. But Blue heard the conversation and she wanted to see what they were doing.

Blue says that they make a cute couple, but Red retaliates that they’re actually a cuter couple. Because they have kittens coming their way.  

Blue rests her head on Red’s, watching as their father's embrace and kiss on the balcony.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://mikuridaigo.tumblr.com/) | [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/Das_Hazel/)


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